Image of New Orleans, Louisiana,
using data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey Center for EROS and
the Landsat Project Science Office at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Jesse Allen/National Aeronautics and Space Administration
image.

Highlights of Fiscal Year
2006

1. Geospatial
Line of Business

The Geospatial Line of Business
was launched in March 2006 as part of the President’s 2007 budget. The
staff director of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) is the
managing partner for this presidential initiative. An interagency task
force is identifying opportunities to optimize, standardize, develop
accountability and improved performance in Federal geospatial
activities, and support the further development of the National Spatial
Data Infrastructure (NSDI). For the complete story, click here.

2. NSDI
Cooperative Agreements Program Grants

For 12 years, Cooperative
Agreements Program grants have played a substantial role in promoting
and disseminating the tenets of the NSDI to thousands of practitioners
by providing small seed grants to organizations. The program emphasizes
partnerships, collaboration, and the leveraging of geospatial resources
to achieve its goals. In fiscal year (FY) 2006 a new category for NSDI
expansion at State and local levels debuted as the Fifty States
Initiative. Read more information here.

3. Fifty States
Initiative

FY
2006 was the inaugural year for the Fifty States Initiative. The FGDC
and National States Geographic Information Council endorsed this
planning process. The initiative is targeted to meet State and local
needs by institutionalizing statewide geospatial information
coordination and governance to advance the NSDI. For more information,
click here.

4.
Governance

The FGDC moved toward
establishing a new inclusive NSDI governance model to ensure input and
commitment from all non-Federal stakeholders. The National Geospatial
Advisory Committee will be established under the Federal Advisory
Committee Act. The committee will advise the FGDC on matters related to
national geospatial programs and further development of the NSDI. Click here for additional
information.

5.
International Collaboration

The FGDC provided management and
planning support for the 9th International Conference of Global Spatial
Data Infrastructure Association in Santiago, Chile. Partnership
agreements with international associations, signed in FY 2006, are
paving the way for more extensive international collaboration and
training. For the full story, click here.

6. Geospatial
One-Stop

The Geospatial One-Stop (GOS)
portal, www.geodata.gov, the official means to access the metadata
resources managed in the NSDI Clearinghouse Network and other
authoritative sources, saw an increase of more than 30 percent of the
accessible metadata records during FY 2006. The GOS Partnership
Marketplace, which allows organizations to publish their intent in
collecting geospatial data, grew to include approximately 3,000 planned
data acquisition records by the end of FY 2006. For more information,
click here.

7. Geospatial
Profile for the Federal Enterprise Architecture

A
Geospatial Profile for the Federal Enterprise Architecture (FEA) was
published in January 2006. It provides agency business architects with
the references and background to recognize and incorporate common
geospatial capabilities in their business planning. It is one of three
published FEA profiles. For the complete story, click here.

8. Symbology
Mapping Standard

The FGDC’s Homeland Security
Working Group developed a standard symbol set for emergency management
and response. This effort resulted in the publication of an American
National Standard (ANS), Homeland Security Mapping Standard—Point
Symbology for Emergency Mapping in FY 2006. See here for more information.

9. Framework
Standards

The International Committee for
Information Technology Standards Technical Committee L1 approved the
Framework Data Standard for further processing to become an ANS. The
Framework Data Standard was created to enable data exchange for seven
fundamental geospatial themes of critical importance to the development
of the NSDI. For more information, click here.

10. Imagery for
the Nation

During FY 2006, the National
Digital Orthophoto Committee endorsed the initial Imagery for the
Nation proposal. Activities included developing Federal needs,
identifying the program costs, and funding a cost-benefit analysis
study. Read more information here.

Action:FEMA focused on
outreach to State and local partners through its regional offices and
mapping contractors. Regional Management Centers (RMC) developed
working relationships with National States Geographic Information
Council representatives in their States to facilitate a coordinated
approach to data sharing. RMCs also entered metadata records into the
National Digital Elevation Program and National Digital Orthophoto
Programs project tracker Web sites for any State and local elevation
data sets planned for use on FEMA Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map
projects for 2006 in their region.

Result:During 2006,
FEMA leveraged $33 million in terrain data, orthophotography, and
geospatial data, based on an investment of approximately $3.9 million.
Notably, FEMA partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to obtain
terrain information developed by the Corps. FEMA inventoried more than
600 elevation data sets and more than 580 imagery data sets. These data
sets will be cataloged on the FEMA Mapping Information Platform (see
www.hazards.fema.gov). The 133 Urban Area Initiative at National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
collects high-resolution orthophotography and LIDAR of the defined
urban areas. A 5-mile buffer was established around the defined urban
areas to capture all potential FEMA projects that might produce data
useful to NGA and the USGS.

Collaborating
and Collecting Imagery in Nevada

Challenge:National
Agricultural Imagery Program data were needed for agricultural lands in
Nevada. The challenge was to coordinate entities at the Federal, State,
and local levels and raise $1.6 million in funding.

Action:The effort
became a statewide interagency project. Participants included the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S.
Geological Survey, U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service, Nevada
Department of Transportation, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology,
Southern Nevada Water District, Washoe County, and University of Nevada
Reno—Keck Library.

Result:Data are
currently being captured. They will be shared among participating
entities and made available to the public.

Message From the
FGDC Chair

I
am pleased to present the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) 2006
Annual Report, showcasing the many collaborative activities and
accomplishments of the FGDC and the geospatial community during the
past year.

A
key activity was the March 2006 launch of the Office of Management and
Budget’s Geospatial Line of Business (LoB) initiative, part of the
President’s Management Agenda. The Geospatial LoB leverages our
resources, increases accountability, and optimizes Federal
geospatial-related investments while improving service to
citizens.

For non-Federal stakeholders, the
proposed National Geospatial Advisory Committee represents a new phase
in the ongoing development of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
(NSDI). The committee will provide a productive forum to convey the
views of non-Federal stakeholders in the geospatial
community.

The geospatial technology, Web
services, and other information available today are easier to use and
have become integrated into daily life. Our society benefits from new
navigation and Global Positioning System tools, online 3-D maps, sensor
systems to predict and monitor natural disasters, and critical homeland
security information.

Timely, accurate data are
critical for these technologies and services. This annual report
highlights key areas of progress in the NSDI’s evolution and looks
ahead to the continuing role that geospatial information will play in
America’s future. For a more in-depth analysis of these topics, please
visit the FGDC Web site (www.fgdc.gov) or the Geospatial One-Stop Web
site (www.geodata.gov).

I
am proud of the accomplishments of the geospatial community and
appreciate the contributions of those involved in the continuing
development of the NSDI. We all look forward to making the NSDI an even
more important part of America’s digital data foundation in the years
ahead.

Sincerely,

Lynn Scarlett, Deputy
Secretary

U.S. Department of the
Interior

Chair, FGDC Steering
Committee

Geospatial
Data Fulfills Its Promise, Meets the Challenge

If
a disaster struck your region, would you know how to find the
information needed to respond effectively? What information would be
critical? Does it exist? Could you find it quickly?

For more than a decade, the
geospatial community has worked to answer those questions for the
Nation. In fiscal year (FY) 2006, the effort to create a National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) reached an important milestone: the
U.S. Office of Management and Budget, recognizing the critical need for
ready access to reliable data, launched the Geospatial Line of Business
(LoB) to identify opportunities for optimizing and standardizing
Federal geospatial-related investments to reduce the cost of government
and improve services to citizens.

Good decisions require good
information. It is widely accepted that 80 to 90 percent of government
information has a geospatial component. Government managers and
business leaders need geospatial data they can trust—data that are
accurate, reliable, timely, accessible, and easy to use. America’s
ability to effectively share, use, and reuse this valuable information
across government depends on the policies, standards, and partnerships
that form a strong NSDI.

The NSDI ensures that spatial
data from multiple sources are available and easily integrated to help
decision makers choose the best course(s) of action. Although much has
been accomplished in recent years to further NSDI’s implementation, the
cross-agency coordination of geospatial activities still is needed to
identify, consolidate, and eliminate redundant investments.
Implementing the Geospatial LoB recommendations will result in a more
coordinated approach to produce, maintain, and use geospatial
data.

The Federal Geographic Data
Committee (FGDC) is charged with implementing the NSDI. This report
summarizes key developments in the evolution of the NSDI during FY
2006. It provides an overview of specific challenges being met through
enhanced geospatial information and improved methods for collection,
storage, and distribution of that information.

NSDI Drives
Future Hurricane Recovery and Preparation

For America’s Gulf Coast, 2006
brought cleanup and recovery from the Nation’s most devastating
hurricane season, which occurred in 2005. Hurricane Katrina, one of the
most destructive storms ever to strike the United States, was a
Category 5 storm with sustained hurricane-force winds reaching 175
miles per hour and extending as far as 120 miles from the eye of the
storm. Never before had the value of geospatial data been so clear and
the applications of such data so critical as during the tracking,
assessing, and recovery efforts before and after the storm.

NSDI Before the
Storm

Agencies such as the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) were building data sets as part of
the NSDI that became critical components in the post-Hurricane Katrina
damage assessment and rebuilding.

NOAA’s height modernization
program identified the vulnerability of certain areas to flooding.
Immediately following the storm warnings, this elevation data enabled
local authorities to evacuate the areas at greatest risk.

The Natural Resources
Conservation Service, through its National Geospatial Development
Center, prepared several thematic maps of the anticipated path of
Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The creation
of these maps began 3 to 4 days before the hurricane’s anticipated
landfall, in time for distribution to the first responders from the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

9th Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana,
March 15, 2006. Chris Diamond, Search and Rescue, St. Louis, Missouri;
Charles Gordon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Greenville,
Mississippi; and Gary Simon, New Orleans Fire Department, plan the
day’s search and recovery activities using aerial and grid maps in this
mobile command center. All homes being demolished in the 9th Ward are
searched by a search and recovery team so that no human remains are
left in houses that are being demolished. Marvin Nauman/Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) photo.

Assessing the
Damage

NOAA delivered posthurricane and
tropical storm aerial imagery to the public in coordination with
Federal, State, and local governments. Damage assessment flights began
quickly and thousands of geospatial images were generated for
government and public use. NOAA’s aerial photography database was a
boon to property owners who could not immediately return to check on
their homes or businesses but could examine their properties via the
Internet. NOAA’s aerial photography Web site received more than 72
million hits in the month following Hurricane Katrina.

9th Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana,
March 11, 2006. FEMA debris inspector Drew Dunne, USACE inspector Tom
Conway, and ECC Operating Services inspectors Hillsay Careaer and Rata
Murr give this house in the 9th Ward the final verification inspection
for demolition for homes in the public right-of-way. All 9th Ward homes
sitting on public right-of-way must be demolished and receive several
verification inspections, including this final predemolition checklist
inspection. Marvin Nauman/FEMA photo.

In
February 2006, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD), Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) estimated
that nearly 1.2 million housing units were damaged or destroyed by
Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. PD&R developed the data for an
allocation formula dividing $16.7 billion in congressionally authorized
Community Development Block Grant funding for long-term recovery among
Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. This effort drew
on information from many agencies: Census 2000 data, Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) maps of the extent of overall damage from the
hurricanes, NOAA surveys showing floodwater depth, and HUD’s own
records.

Another imagery source was the
Farm Service Agency (FSA) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Each year, during the agricultural growing season, FSA’s Aerial
Photography Field Office acquires imagery across the Nation through the
National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP). In many cases, this
imagery is the most current preevent natural color or color infrared
imagery. In the NAIP, within 3 days of receipt, a compressed county
area mosaic of the imagery is available via USDA’s Geospatial Data
Gateway and is prepackaged for quick delivery upon request. After the
hurricanes dealt their destructive blows, this system enabled FSA to
create a public Web service for NAIP imagery to aid emergency
response.

The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and contractors developed more than 10,000 relevant maps
for responders and reconnaissance crews. Map requests came from various
sources and with different formats and requirements. EPA developed a
specialized tracking system enabling staff and customers to track the
status of individual map requests. Known as “Map Tracker,” this
Web-based inventory allowed users to request maps and then track the
maps to completion. The tool greatly improved the efficiency,
consistency, and timeliness of product development to meet emergency
response needs.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated
that Hurricane Katrina affected nearly 10 million Gulf Coast residents.
To meet the need for predisaster and postdisaster population data in
hurricane-affected areas, the Census Bureau created two special
products: one based on county population estimates in the months before
the event and the other based on county population estimates in the
months after the hurricanes occurred.

Hurricane Katrina was especially
destructive to historic structures. Many communities lost treasured
cultural resources, including historic commercial buildings and homes.
Others had to decide whether to repair or demolish damaged historic
properties. The National Park Service Cultural Resource Geographic
Information System (GIS) Facility developed and implemented a historic
preservation data management system for New Orleans and the seven
surrounding parishes. This work was done in consultation with the
Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office and the New Orleans
Historic District Landmark Commission.

The Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) Transmission Emergency Operations Center (TEOC) needed a way to
quickly view transmission assets (structures, lines, and substations)
and electric power customers in affected areas. TVA developed a GIS
approach, drawing data from the Power System Operations work management
system and the incident database. This approach enabled TEOC staff to
rapidly display the location of affected assets and customers and to
track and guide system operations throughout the emergency.

Transportation Emergency
Operation Center Geographic Information System is an affected assets
and customers tracking system for emergency response and recovery
operations. Established after Hurricane Katrina, it has since been
employed during tornado outbreaks in the Tennessee Valley Authority
region.

Storm Surge and
Flooding

Hurricane Katrina produced a
storm surge of 24 to 28 feet along the Mississippi coast. The surge
appeared to have penetrated at least 6 miles inland. In New Orleans,
where the storm surge was 12 to 19 feet, levees protecting the city
failed or were overtopped by the surge. Overall, 80 percent of New
Orleans was flooded, and some areas were under water at a depth of up
to 20 feet.

After the levees failed, efforts
shifted to acquire aerial imagery of the inundated areas. NOAA worked
to ensure the greatest efficiency for imagery acquisition. In the
course of 9 days, 19 flights captured more than 8,400 high-resolution
digital images. NOAA moved quickly—faster than during any previous
hurricane season. From the time the agency acquired the images, it
processed and disseminated data via the Internet in less than a
day.

Levee failure at New Orleans,
Louisiana. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
photo.

HUD used FEMA data to determine
if housing units were within flood zones. Working with geocoded
FEMA-registered housing units and FEMA flood coverage data, HUD was
able to correlate household and housing characteristics by extent and
type of damage.

In
Orleans Parish, floodwaters inundated local government buildings
containing vital records. National Archives and Records Administration
personnel transferred the waterlogged records in freezer trucks to a
New York State processing facility. After processing to preserve them,
the property deeds and other georeferenced records were returned to
Orleans Parish.

The wetlands of the Gulf Coast
area also suffered from Hurricane Katrina’s impact. A U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) analysis indicated that 217 square miles of Louisiana’s
coastal lands were transformed to water following Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita. Lacking access to digital wetlands data, Federal agencies and
land managers had difficulty planning cleanup, site restoration, and
management.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service (USFWS) National Wetlands Inventory partnered with the USGS
National Wetlands Research Center to convert existing inventory maps
into digital data depicting wetland conditions before Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita came ashore. This partnership aided recovery and
planning efforts through Internet distribution of data for nearly 12
million acres of digital wetlands.

Preparing for
Future Events

Responding to the need for
improved access to geospatial data in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina, DHS leveraged its highly successful partnership with USGS and
NGA to fund imagery programs to meet Federal, tribal, State, and local
needs. This partnership helps Federal agencies maximize their response
and recovery efforts. USGS Geospatial Liaisons identified imagery
programs at the State and local levels and leveraged Federal funds to
support the common imagery. This effort has generated a16:1 return on
investment, because the $4.4 million DHS invested leveraged
approximately $70 million from State and local orthophotography
programs.

Other GIS and remote sensing
support for disaster recovery includes the continued development of
spatially enhanced forecast products, development of inland flood
inundation maps to enhance NOAA flood forecast products, and continued
assistance with the improvement of storm surge modeling and water-level
forecast products. Additional work includes the development of
satellite-based maps to help officials visualize impacted areas and
debris accumulations. NOAA and FEMA continue to coordinate and
collaborate on risk and vulnerability methodologies and on new mapping
technologies. This partnership has allowed for the development of an
updated vertical datum in southern Louisiana. A new geospatial services
contract now allows for the collection and development of geospatial
data and products—and access to those data and products—following a
major weather event.

The EPA Map Tracker was initially
developed specifically for Hurricane Katrina response. Map Tracker is
now being modified for deployment on an enterprisewide scale for
subsequent emergencies.

National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) research data are being used to prepare for and
respond to future tropical weather emergencies. The Modeling, Analysis
Prediction ‘06 Project, affiliated with NASA’s Modeling, Analysis, and
Prediction program, will apply NASA’s advanced satellite remote sensing
technologies and earth system modeling capabilities to enhance
understanding of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin.

NSDI’s
Contributions in Other Critical Situations

Just as geospatial data played a
critical role in hurricane recovery along America’s Gulf Coast, the
rapidly developing technology and stores of knowledge continue to be
used by numerous Federal, State, and local agencies to address the need
for emergency response in other disaster situations.

Building the
NSDI To Protect Our Homeland

Through the development of an
infrastructure database, NGA has moved to the forefront of the homeland
security community as a broker of imagery, elevation data, and vector
data sets (graphics-based geographical features). In recent years, NGA
has contracted for the acquisition and integration of airborne imagery
of nearly 100 high-priority urban areas. By the end of 2006, analysts
had used the imagery to create high-resolution, three-dimensional
models and visualizations for many of these areas.

The agency also obtained local
imagery and other data from cities hosting special security events. NGA
partnered with other agencies to collect high-resolution, color
airborne imagery to support DHS in its security efforts at venues such
as the World Series baseball games and special meetings at the United
Nations. In addition tocollecting imagery, NGA acquired,
integrated, and/or updated a variety of data sets on 11 critical
infrastructure sectors that DHS identified.

NGA provides users with a common
operational picture that enables them to visualize that picture,
analyze it, and act on it. Users include the White House Situation
Room, DHS’s Homeland Security Operations Center, the U.S. Northern and
Joint Forces Command, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National
Counterterrorism Center, and the Transportation Security
Administration’s operations center.

Managing and
Combating Wildland Fires

In
FY 2006, the USDA Forest Service made enhancements to the Phoenix
airborne thermal infrared fire detection system. The system now
provides digital geocorrected imagery to emergency fire personnel. This
important enhancement has resulted in significant savings in time for
producing fire perimeter maps, active fire front maps, and hot spot
maps.

During FY 2006, the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) completed inventories of cadastral data in the
West and in the Gulf Coast to help address wildfire and hurricane
threats, respectively. BLM assisted fighters of wildland fires in the
West by providing cadastral data to determine “values at risk.”
Economic analyses of values at risk in comparison to the costs of fire
response assisted in developing improved strategies for wildland
firefighting.

NASA’s Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Rapid Response research applications
prototype is a key data source in fighting wildland fires. The system
initially gained prominence during a 2000 fire outbreak in Montana.
MODIS imagery and data now are provided to such organizations as the
USDA Forest Service’s Remote Sensing Applications Center, the National
Interagency Fire Center, and the United Nations Global Fire Monitoring
Center.

Preparing for
Bird Flu

Infectious disease specialists at
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the USDA’s Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) asked USFWS to help assess
the threat level from avian influenza (bird flu), based on transmission
of the virus via wild populations of migratory waterfowl or water
birds.

USFWS provided its wetlands
digital data set for the avian influenza study. This effort involved
coordination with APHIS specialists to provide digital wetlands data in
proper format plus development of a grid system to partition the data
and determine the size and location of water bodies and wetlands that
would support migratory birds. APHIS will use this information to
develop models of areas susceptible to avian influenza
outbreaks.

Promoting and
Ensuring Interagency Interoperability

The September 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks required first responders from many different jurisdictions to
work together—a first-time experience for some. The operation exposed
problems with interoperability, including the need for standardized
symbology for emergency managers and first responders.

To
solve this problem, FEMA led a symbology Working Group under the FGDC’s
Homeland Security Working Group to develop a symbol set for emergency
management and response. This interagency effort resulted in the
publication of an American National Standard.

Two lightning-ignited wildfires
burned in the San Bernardino Mountains near the town of Yucca Valley in
July 2006. The smaller Millard fire reached a size of 24,000 acres
before combining with the larger, 61,000-acre Sawtooth fire to the
east. Together, they scorched 58 homes before this wildfire complex was
contained. Within a week of this wildfire’s containment, lightning
sparked several new fires in this drought-stricken area. Landsat, U.S.
Geological Survey image.

Conclusion

These stories illustrate a few
ways in which geospatial information was instrumental in dealing with
disasters such as America’s most devastating hurricane season. These
examples also show key developments in the evolution of the NSDI during
FY 2006. They show how Federal government agencies are meeting specific
challenges through the development and use of enhanced geospatial
information and improved methods forcollecting, storing, and
distributing that information. They also show how the development and
enhancement of the NSDI is preparing America for increasingly better
response to future catastrophic events.

Success
Stories

Mapping Tools
for Marine Environment Management

Challenge:Under the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-16,
the Minerals Management Service of the Department of Interior was
required to develop a digital multipurpose marine cadastre to provide
multiple users with Web-based mapping tools for better management of
the marine environment.

Action:Plans were
developed for an Internet mapping system that displays many different
marine-related data layers in a seamless view, based on OGC (Open
Geospatial Consortium, Inc.®)
specifications.

Result:Work has begun
to produce interoperable Internet mapping sites at participating
agencies. Both government and the private sector will feed information
into a central data viewer built specifically for this project. These
same Web services also will be made available via Geospatial One-Stop,
under the Oceans community.

Sharing Data
Between State and Federal Agencies

Challenge:Effectively
sharing the same critical infrastructure data between State and Federal
agencies often is problematic.

Action:The State of
Arkansas partnered with Techni-Graphic Services, Inc. (TGS) to share
data with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The State
and NGA provided information on selected critical infrastructure to
TGS, which modified the data according to NGA procedures. The data were
then forwarded to NGA and the State of Arkansas.

Result:This effort
demonstrates that the States can both provide and receive benefits from
participating in NGA’s development of a baseline of critical
infrastructure information. The National States Geographic Information
Council will strive to make this process available to all States, based
on the success of the Arkansas pilot project.

FGDC:
Coordinating Development of the NSDI

The explosive growth of
technologies that produce and leverage geospatial information has
created both enormous opportunities and considerable challenges for the
FederalGovernment. Recognizing that
effective use of geospatial information requires close coordination
among the many agencies involved in its development, the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) in 1990 created the Federal Geographic Data
Committee (FGDC) as the interagency coordinating body to promote
development, sharing, and dissemination of geospatial data. The FGDC is
charged with implementing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure
(NSDI).

The NSDI encompasses the
technology, policies, standards, and human resources necessary to
acquire, process, store, distribute, and improve the usage of
geospatial data for a variety of users nationwide. As the importance of
geospatial capabilities to improve efficiency and effectiveness of
government becomes more widely recognized, the FGDC is expanding its
leadership role.

With the launch of the Geospatial
Line of Business, the development of the Geospatial Profile of the
Federal Enterprise Architecture, and the growth in Federal membership
and collaborating partners in fiscal year 2006, the FGDC is seeking a
more effective and inclusive governance structure for NSDI.

FGDC
Structure

The FGDC is governed by a
Steering Committee that sets high-level strategic direction. A
Coordination Group advises on the FGDC’s day-to-day business, which is
carried out by the FGDC Secretariat located at the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS).

The FGDC includes committees;
agency-led working groups and thematic subcommittees; collaborating
partners representing organizations from State, tribal, and local
governments; and industry, academic, and professional groups. All
participants initiate and support activities crucial to developing the
NSDI.

Steering
Committee

The Steering Committee is the
policy-level interagency group responsible for overseeing activities
related to OMB Circular A-16 and implementation of the NSDI. It
provides executive leadership and establishes policy to coordinate
geospatial activities between, among, and within Federal agencies. The
committee meets quarterly in Washington, D.C. (See Appendix B, Exhibit 1 for a list of Steering
Committee members and their associated organizations.)

Coordination
Group

The FGDC Coordination Group
advises on the day-to-day business of the FGDC, carrying out the
interagency coordination and implementation of the NSDI at the
operational level. It also facilitates and oversees the work of the
FGDC Subcommittees and Working Groups. The Coordination Group, which
meets monthly in Washington, DC, is composed of representatives from
Federal agencies and collaborating partners.

Secretariat
Staff

The FGDC Secretariat Staff
provides support for the FGDC Subcommittees and performs various tasks
such as analysis, technical development, and other activities on behalf
of the Coordination Group. The Secretariat is located in the USGS,
National Geospatial Program Office. (See Appendix B, Exhibit 3 for a list of Secretariat
Staff members.)

Thematic
Subcommittees

OMB Circular A-16 enumerates 34
data themes of national significance and assigns responsibility for
each of the themes to one or more Federal agencies. The FGDC thematic
subcommittees are established for nine of the data themes.

Thematic
Subcommittee by Lead Agency and Definition

Thematic
Subcommittee

Lead

Agency

Definition of
Spatial Data Theme

*Cadastral

DOI BLM

The geographic extent of past,
current, and future right, title, and interest in real property; the
framework to support the description of that geographic extent.
Geographic extent includes survey and description
frameworks.

Cultural and Demographic
Statistics

DOC USCB

Geospatially referenced data that
describe characteristics of people: nature of structures in which they
live, work; economic, other activities they pursue; facilities they use
to support their health, recreational, other needs; environmental
consequences of their presence; boundaries, names, numeric codes of
geographic entities used to report information collected.

*Geodetic Control

DOC NOAA

Common reference system for
establishing coordinates for all geographic data. All NSDI framework
data and users’ applications data require geodetic control to
accurately register spatial data. The National Spatial Reference System
is the fundamental geodetic control for the United States.

Geologic

DOI USGS

Geologic mapping information and
related geoscience spatial data that can contribute to National
Geologic Map Database as pursuant to Public Law 106-148.

Marine and Coastal Spatial
Data

DOC NOAA

Data that exists within the
Nation’s coastal zone, and data that exists within the Nation’s marine
environment. Coastal spatial data are data that exist within the
coastal waters and the adjacent shorelands.

*Spatial Water Data
(ACWI)

Co-leaders:

DOI USGS and USDA NRCS

Develops water resource
components of the NSDI through ACWI which advises the Federal
Government, through DOI USGS, on the coordination of Federal water
information programs; represents the interests ofwater-information users and
professionals on activitiesand plans related to Federal
water-information programs and the effectiveness of those programs in
meeting the Nation’s water-information needs. Affiliated geospatial
data programs include Watershed Boundary and National
Hydrography.

*Transportation

DOT BTS

Models geographic locations,
interconnectedness, and characteristics of transportation system in the
United States; includes physical and nonphysical components
representing all modes of travel that enable movement of goods and
people between locations.

Vegetation

USDA Forest Service

Collection of plants or plant
communities with distinguishable characteristics that occupy an area of
interest. Existing vegetation covers or is visible at or above land or
water surface and does not include abiotic factors that tend to
describe potential vegetation.

Wetlands

DOI USFWS

Provides classification,
location, and extent of wetlands and deepwater habitats; no attempt to
define the proprietary limits or jurisdictional wetland boundaries of
any Federal, State, or local agencies.

Working groups crosscut the
subcommittees and focus on infrastructure issues common to many of the
NSDI data themes.

Working Groups
by Lead Agency and Description

WorkingGroup

LeadAgency

Description

Biological Data

DOI USGS BRD

Promotes development and
coordination of standards for biological data to increase compatibility
in the development, use, sharing, and dissemination of biological data
among government agencies and other interested institutions; develops
means to facilitate the sharing and consistent use of biological data
standards and protocols; encourages interagency partnerships in
developing and implementing thesestandards and protocols; helps
integrate biological data standards activities into the NSDI and the
National Biological Information Infrastructure.

Clearinghouse

DOI USGS

Tasked by Executive Order 12906
to develop procedures and helpimplement a distributed discovery
mechanism for digital geospatial data. Using the data elements defined
in the FGDC Metadata Standard, governmental, nonprofit, and commercial
participants publish their geospatial resources to the Clearinghouse
Network.

Geospatial Enterprise
Architecture

DOI USGS

Improves the understanding and
integration of geospatial concepts by mainstream governmental business
planners and technical practitioners through a variety of outreach
mechanisms. The Community of Practice was convened at the request of
the Architecture and Infrastructure Committee of the CIO Council and
the FGDC to develop guidance known as the “Geospatial Profile of the
FEA.”

Historical Data

NARA

Established to promote awareness
among Federal agencies of the historical dimension to geospatial data;
to facilitate the long-term retention, storage, and accessibility of
selected historically valuable geospatial data; and to establish a
mechanism for the coordinated development, use, sharing, and
dissemination of historically valuable geospatial data which have been
financed in whole or part by Federal funds.

Homeland Security

DHS

Ensures that the NSDI supports
the preparation for, prevention of, protection against, response to,
and recovery from threats to the Nation’s population centers and
critical infrastructures that are of terrorist, criminal, accidental,
or natural origin and related adverse events.

Marine Boundary

DOC NOAA

and

DOI MMS

Fosters integrated approaches to
the legal and geospatial descriptions of marine boundaries and mapping
of marine boundary features within the territorial waters of the United
States; strives to make maximum use of public resources to avoid
duplicating efforts, provide a venue for communicating and coordinating
on marine boundary activities, and usestandardized methodologies to
produce more complete and usable marine boundary data, metadata, and
charts.

Metadata

DOI USGS

Promotes and coordinates
geospatial metadata activities among FGDC member agencies in support
ofthe NSDI;
promotes awareness among FGDC member agencies of the metadata dimension
to geospatial data; facilitates the evolution and revision of the
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata; and establishes a
mechanism for the coordinating, developing, using, sharing, and
disseminating geospatial metadata among FGDC member
agencies.

Standards

DOI USGS

Actively promotes and coordinates
FGDC standards activities; provides guidance on FGDC standards policy
and procedures; facilitates coordination between subcommittees having
overlapping standards activities; and reviews and makes recommendations
on the approval of standards proposals, draft standards for public
review, and draft standards for FGDC endorsement.

The FGDC involves public interest
groups that participate within the committee structure to ensure that
their needs are included in developing the NSDI. These coordinating
partners include State, local, and tribal governments; academic
institutions; and a broad array of private-sector geographic,
statistical, demographic, and other business information providers and
users. NSDI strives to build upon local data wherever
possible.

Collaborating
Partners and Descriptions

Partner

Description

American Congress on Surveying
and Mapping

A nonprofit educational
organization that advances the sciences of surveying and mapping and
related fields to further the welfare of those who use and make
maps.

Association of American
Geographers

A scientific and educational
society whose members share interests in the theory, methods, and
practice of geography and geographic education.

Cartographic Users Advisory
Council

An organization of 12
representatives from 6 national and regional library organizations,
dedicated to cartographic interests.

A professional and educational
organization for chief appointed managers, administrators, and
assistants in cities, towns, counties, and regional entities throughout
the world.

National Association of
Counties

Advances issues with a unified
voice before the Federal Government, improves the public’s
understanding of county government, assists counties in finding and
sharing innovative solutions through education and research, and
provides value-added services to save counties and taxpayers
money.

National Association of State
Chief Information Officers

Represents State CIOs and
information resource executives and managers from the 50 States, the
District of Columbia, and 6 U.S. territories.

National League of
Cities

Strengthens and promotes cities
as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance.

National States Geographic
Information Council

Provides a unified voice on
geographic information and technology issues, advocates State
interests, and supports its membership in their statewide
initiatives.

Open Geospatial Consortium,
Inc.®

A nonprofit, international,
voluntary consensus standards organization of more than 295 companies,
government agencies, research organizations, and universities; leads
the development of standards for geospatial and location-based
services.

University Consortium for
Geographic Information Science

A nonprofit organization of more
than 50 universities and other research institutions.

Urban and Regional Information
SystemsAssociation

Facilitates the use and
integration of information technologies to improve the quality of life
in urban andregional environments.

Western Governors’
Association

Addresses important policy and
governance issues in the West, advances the role of the western States
in the Federal system, and strengthens the social and economic fabric
of the region.

The National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (NSDI) advances the interoperability of Federal
information systems to better enable the drawing of geospatial
resources from multiple Federal agencies and their partners. The
Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) works to advance
interoperability and the enablement integrated geospatial
capabilities.

Development of a Geospatial
Profile

The FGDC and the Federal Chief
Information Officers Council, in concert with non-Federal partners,
have developed the Geospatial Profile of the Federal Enterprise
Architecture (FEA) to help all levels of government properly integrate
their geospatial information.

The Geospatial Profile highlights
geospatial patterns in each of the FEA reference models (business,
performance, technology, data, and service components) and guides
agency managers and architects in the construction of interoperable
geospatial architectures to support multiple internal and external
requirements.

Context of the
Geospatial Profile

Geospatial Line
of Business

The Geospatial Line of Business
(LoB) was part of the President’s fiscal year (FY) 2007 budget. The
Geospatial LoB, which is led by the U.S. Department of the Interior
(DOI) and managed by the FGDC Staff Director, supports the development
of the NSDI.

The Geospatial LoB identifies
opportunities to coordinate, standardize, and optimize investments in
Federal geospatial activities through the workings of the interagency
Geospatial LoB Task Force. The task force developed a shared vision of
the LoB that states, “The Nation’s interests are served, and the core
missions of Federal agencies and their partners are met, through the
effective and efficient development, provision, and interoperability of
geospatial data and services.”

The task force identified the
following three phases of realization:

Analysis—Development of a vision,
goals and objectives, a national business architecture, and a baseline
inventory of data and services.

Definition—Development of a
public request for information and its analysis, a concept of
operations, a solution requirements document, target business
architectures, the business case, and a transition
strategy.

Operation—Guidance for agencies
on meeting policy objectives, integrating the LoB into target business
architectures, and facilitating the implementation of LoB common
solutions.

The analysis and definition
phases were nearing conclusion at the end of FY 2006. One
accomplishment of the early phases of the LoB was the approval to
establish and designate a Senior Agency Official for Geospatial
Information for each agency to serve as a representative to the FGDC.
The operational phase includes establishing a Program Management Office
for task management and the National Geospatial Advisory Committee
(NGAC).

The Geospatial Profile and the
Geospatial LoB draw a roadmap for NSDI implementation using
business-driven requirements, enterprise architecture, and budgetary
techniques. The realization of an effective NSDI depends on societal
and organizational commitments to establish and maintain robust
capabilities and agreements that support mission requirements
transcending the needs of any one agency, company, or
organization.

Cooperative Agreements
Program

For 12 years, the FGDC has used
Cooperative Agreements Program (CAP) grants to help the geospatial data
community implement components of the NSDI. Under the 2006 CAP, 25
projects that addressed the following five categories were awarded CAP
grants.

The Metadata
Trainer and Outreach Assistance category was designed to enable
organizations with NSDI expertise, knowledge, and experience to assist
other organizations with training and implementation. CAP awarded
grants to five projects to advance NSDI training.

The
Framework Client Development category was designed to develop software
clients for framework data services. CAP awarded grants to three
projects to support operational needs for online framework
data.

The Fifty States
Initiative category was designed to accelerate statewide coordination
activities through consistent strategic and business plan development.
CAP awarded grants to 11 States to begin developing State
plans.

The
Canadian-U.S. Spatial Data Infrastructure category was designed to
support a joint project between the United States and Canada. CAP,
through joint funding by GeoConnections Canada, awarded one grant to
map the spread of infectious diseases across the Maine/New Brunswick
border.

The Geographic
Information Integration and Analysis category was designed to develop
sustainable partnerships to integrate, maintain, and provide access to
currentgeospatial data. CAP awarded
grants to five projects to assist organizations with developing and
providing access to geospatial information that serves community
needs.

The CAP 2007 budget of $1.2
million will fund up to 26 projects. For more information about CAP,
see http://www.fgdc.gov/grants.

The Fifty States
Initiative—Building a Strong NSDI

Building a viable NSDI to serve
the needs of all levels of government and the private sector requires a
solid foundation that is strategic, deliberate, and assembled in
discrete, manageable units. The Fifty States Initiative, a joint effort
launched in 2005 by the FGDC and National States Geographic Information
Council (NSGIC), is a “bottom-up” approach to NSDI building. Targeted
to meet State and local needs, it nurtures development of healthy,
statewide Geographic Information System coordination councils (not just
State agencies) and promotes collaborative opportunities for advancing
the NSDI, including standards-based data development.

In
FY 2006, the NSGIC and FGDC developed comprehensive template documents
and supporting information to help develop strategic plans and business
plans specific togeospatial initiatives. The FGDC
announced a new grant category under CAP, designed to support
implementation of the Fifty States Initiative. The FGDC awarded 11
grants to develop and implement statewide strategic and business plans
that will further NSDI activities. The Fifty States Initiative, in
which everyone “has a place at the table” and is welcome to
participate, is an evolutionary process that will take several years to
fully implement.

International Program—Making
Progress Around the World

During FY 2006, a three-way
agreement was signed among the FGDC, the Joint Research Board
representing Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European
Community or INSPIRE (the European Union’s equivalent of the FGDC), and
GeoConnections Canada (Canada’s equivalent of the FGDC). The agreement
sought to improve sharing opportunities in areas ranging from portal
philosophies to enterprise architecture and global Earth
observations.

The Group on Earth Observations
(GEO) moved into its implementation stage in FY 2006. GEO includes 66
member countries, the European Commission, and 43 participating
organizations working together to establish the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). GEOSS will build on and add
value to existing Earth-observation systems by coordinating their
efforts, addressing critical gaps, supporting their interoperability,
sharing information, reaching a common understanding of user
requirements, and improving delivery of information to
users.

The FGDC worked closely with the
Global Spatial Data Infrastructure (GSDI) Association in planning the
ninth GSDI meeting in Santiago, Chile. GSDI-9 arranged with six sister
organizations to conduct related technical and business meetings in
conjunction with the conference.

The FGDC
Metadata Program—Coordination and Collaboration

In
June 2006, the FGDC Metadata Program, which promotes and coordinates
geospatial metadata activities among FGDC member agencies in support of
the NSDI, coordinated metadata training with the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) Central Region’s Partnership Office to provide an introductory
metadata tutorial and a Business Case for Metadata workshop. In
addition to the tutorial and workshop, which are available to other
regional Partnership Offices, other FGDC metadata training activities
include the following:

Training
programs for the Gulf Coast region, under an agreement with Texas
A&M University’s Gulf Coast Studies and Cooperative Ecosystem
System Unit.

Development
of Framework Data Standards online training materials through an
agreement with the Wyoming Geographic Science Center at the University
of Wyoming.

A New Governance
Model—Furthering the Development of the NSDI

As
a result of the work of the Governance Action Team of the Future
Directions Initiative and the Geospatial LoB, the FGDC has recommended
establishing the NGAC under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, with
DOI as the sponsoring agency. The committee will provide the FGDC with
advice and recommendations related to managing national geospatial
programs, developing the NSDI, and implementing Office of Management
and Budget Circular A-16.

Geospatial One-Stop Access to the NSDI
Clearinghouse Network

In
2005, the Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) portal, www.geodata.gov, became the
official means for accessing metadata resources managed in the NSDI
Clearinghouse Network. Metadata held by government (Federal, State,
local, and tribal) entities and by commercial, university, and
nonprofit organizations are published through the Clearinghouse Network
at geodata.gov.

In
FY 2006, more than 100,000 individual metadata records were available
via geodata.gov, a 30-percent increase from the previous year. Key
Federal metadata holdings are shown in the Metadata Records figure. On
a regular basis, as additional metadata collections are discovered,
they are added to the Network.

Metadata
Records in Geospatial One-Stop Portal by Federal Agency (as of October
2006)

Note: Abbreviations are defined
in the glossary in Appendix D.

The number of registered
collections, or “nodes,” within the NSDI Clearinghouse Network
continues to grow, as shown in the NSDI Clearinghouse Growth figure. An
effort to integrate the NSDI registry of metadata servers using the
Z39.50 protocol with the geodata.gov portal list of services is under
way. This effort will yield a consolidated set of registered services
to be made available to the public in FY 2007.

NSDI
Clearinghouse Growth by Year

The Global Clearinghouse Growth
figure shows the number and relative percentage of registered metadata
collections, primarily supporting the Z39.50 search and retrieval
protocol worldwide. The number of collections continues to grow
gradually both nationally and internationally.

Global
Clearinghouse Growth by Year

Geospatial
One-Stop Partnership Marketplace

The GOS Partnership Marketplace
is an innovative capability of the geodata.gov portal where
organizations can advertise their interest or intent in collecting
geospatial data. By the end of FY 2006, the marketplace grew to include
approximately 3,000 planned data acquisition records. From these 3,000
marketplace records, approximately 1,000 contacts were made regarding
possible partnerships for data acquisition.

Standards
Activities—Facilitating the Development and Sharing of Geospatial
Data

Standards development is a
critical factor in facilitating the development, sharing, and use of
geospatial data. The FGDC develops geospatial data standards for
implementing the NSDI, in consultation and cooperation with State,
local, and tribal governments; the private sector and academic
community; and, to the extent feasible, the international
community.

The FGDC standards activity had
several notable accomplishments in FY 2006:

The FGDC
Standards Working Group approved a proposal to develop the Wetlands
Mapping Standard.

The
InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS)
Technical Committee L1 approved Project 1574-D, Information
Technology-Geographic Information Framework Data Content Standards
(also known as the Framework Data Standard), for further processing to
become an American National Standard (ANS). The draft Framework Data
Standard was created to enable data exchange for seven fundamental
geospatial themes of critical importance to the development of the
NSDI.

The
FGDC’s Homeland Security Working Group developed a symbol set for
emergency management and response. The effort resulted in the
publication of American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/INCITS
415-2006, Homeland Security Mapping Standard—Point Symbology for
Emergency Mapping in 2006.

A systematic
review of the FGDC standards program of work began in FY 2006. Reviews
of FGDC standards endorsed for 5 years or more were conducted and
recommendations were developed for further action.

New NSDI
Training Materials Under Development

A
new collection of NSDI Training Materials, which grew out of workshops
held during 2006, is on the way. New training modules are being
developed for Enterprise Architecture, Web Services, Spatial Data
Infrastructure, Partnerships, Metadata, CAP,geodata.gov, Homeland Security
Support, and Standards Integration. These training modules will greatly
expand NSDI offerings.

A
draft curriculum has been designed and inventories are being updated to
reflect relevant training materials using a standardized database. Each
module will have its own lesson plan. The current partner agencies in
the NSDI training program are USGS/EROS, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration Coastal Services Center, National Park
Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Department of Homeland
Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, and Environmental Protection
Agency.

Developing the
Street Address Standard

In
FY 2006, the Address Standard Working Group (ASWG) closed the public
comment period on the first draft of the standard, responded to all 149
comments received, revised the first draft extensively, posted the
second draft for public comment, received close to 200 comments, and
responded to all of them. In response, the ASWG has made substantial
revisions to the second draft. The third draft of the standard will be
presented to the FGDC Standards Working Group during the second quarter
of FY 2007 for consideration for formal FGDC public review and
adoption.

Advancing Imagery for the
Nation

In
FY 2006, the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN) initiative came closer to
being implemented. The National Digital Orthophoto Programs (NDOP)
Committee reviewed the initial IFTN proposal that was forwarded by the
NSGIC to the FGDC. Part of this activity included developing Federal
needs, identifying program costs, and resolving high-level issues
related to the design of IFTN. Working as partners, USGS and USDA
funded and contracted a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) study to be
completed by June 2007. In addition to reporting Federal concerns, the
CBA will include input from State and local governments and the private
sector. In FY 2007, NDOP will work to improve the design of the IFTN
initiative.

Action:The Census
Bureau has a multiyear project to realign street features in the TIGER
(Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system)
database to a minimum of 7.6 meters of horizontal positional accuracy,
using State, tribal, county, and local files, wherever possible. More
than 1,800 of these files have been used to date. Local hydrography or
the National Hydrographic Dataset is used where it is available at
medium or higher resolution.

Result:All agencies,
local governments, and private individuals have free and clear access
to accurate road centerline data and geographic boundary data that is
in the public domain and freely downloadable from the Census Bureau’s
Web site atwww.census.gov.

Action:The U.S.
Department of Agriculture Forest Service developed a tool that works
within ArcGIS, an integrated collection of GIS software, to populate
certain components of standard metadata in an automated
fashion.

Action:The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coast Survey,
as a member of the ad hoc Committee on the U.S. Baseline, began work to
create and distribute legal, digital maritime limits and a national
baseline for the coastal United States. To establish these limits, the
Office of Coast Survey is working with representatives of the Minerals
Management Service of the Department of the Interior and with the
Department of State to coordinate and combine expertise. This
coordination includes an exchange of source data, technical and legal
expertise, and training to ensure that the limits meet international
standards.

Result:Digital limits
and a national baseline for the Hawaiian Islands, Puerto Rico, U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the continental United States have been completed
and posted to the Internet. Creation of digital limits and a national
baseline for Alaska and the U.S. island territories are under way and
will be complete by the end of fiscal year 2007.

Facilitating
Data Sharing To Help Southwest Border Communities

Challenge:Lack of adequate
information on unincorporated border communities, known as colonias,
along the Southwest U.S. border posed a challenge to researchers,
policymakers, and citizens. Colonias lack adequate infrastructure and
are characterized by substandard housing, poor health conditions,
poverty, and, often, unregulated development. The Departments of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Agriculture, and Health and Human
Services and the Environmental Protection Agency needed better
information to respond to the unique needs of colonias.

Action:Complementing
work being done by the Office of the Attorney General and the Texas
Water Development Board, HUD worked with the Department of Energy
(DOE)/Oak Ridge National Laboratory and State and local entities to
create consistent boundary files for colonias in Arizona, California,
and New Mexico. Dynamic allocation methodologies, which can be reused
for other purposes, were then designed and developed to assign census
and other data to these non-Census boundaries.

Result:HUD, with
assistance from the DOE, is creating a Web-enabled Southwest Border
Colonia Research Database using open source public domain Internet
technologies that will enable users to provide feedback, download
boundary and data files, and query data about individual colonias. This
resource will help better leverage resources, reduce duplication of
effort, and facilitate data sharing across agencies.

FGDC Goals for 2007

1. Implement
the Geospatial Line of Business

The Geospatial Line of Business
(LoB) prepared and presented recommendations to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. The release of the
President’s fiscal year (FY) 2008 budget will officially launch the
Geospatial LoB initiative for OMB, the Department of the Interior (DOI)
and Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) partner
agencies.

A
high-priority recommendation for the Geospatial LoB initiative includes
establishing a Geospatial Program Management Office (GPMO). The GPMO
will provide assistance to the FGDC Secretariat in support of the LoB
and will be guided by the decisions of the FGDC Steering Committee. The
GPMO will be responsible for task management, including activity
development, contract management, deliverables management, and
communications for the Geospatial LoB.

2. Establish
the National Geospatial Advisory Committee

The FGDC is pursuing the
establishment of a new advisory body, the National Geospatial Advisory
Committee, in 2007. The committee will review and comment on geospatial
policy and management issues and provide a forum to convey views
representative of non-Federal Stakeholders in the geospatial community.
The committee is being formed by DOI on behalf of FGDC partner agencies
under the authority of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

3. Expand the
Fifty States Initiative

A
minimum of 10 new National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI)
Cooperative Agreements Program grants will be issued in 2007.
Additional Federal partnerships arebeing sought to support this
initiative. By the end of FY 2007, approximately 28 States are expected
to have received funding for strategic and business planning
activities.

4. Expand
International Collaboration and Leadership

The FGDC will continue
programmatic involvement and support for the Global Spatial Data
Infrastructure (GSDI) by contributing resources to the GSDI Small
Grants Program and regional electronic newsletters, serve as members of
the GSDI board, and providing support for developing comprehensive
Spatial Data Infrastructure technical programs for the GSDI meetings,
conferences, and workshops.

The Group on Earth Observations
(GEO) and its Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS)
embarked on an implementation phase for the FY 2007–09 work plan. The
FGDC Secretariat and a number of U.S. Federal agencies are contributing
to several of the committees through a U.S. GEO coordination
effort.

The FGDC will collaborate on an
interagency project of common geographic and topical interest that will
exercise a number of interoperability standards in support of common
research goals. This project supports other international activities,
including the International Polar Year and GEO/GEOSS.

5. Increase the
Value of the Geospatial One-Stop Portal

Increase Local
Government Capacity

Because OMB Circular A-16
recognizes the importance of high-accuracy geospatial data sets created
by towns, cities, counties, and regional programs throughout the
country, the FGDC is increasing its outreach in FY 2007 to local
governments to support development of the NSDI through the Geospatial
One-Stop (GOS) program. A focal point of this outreach is
reestablishing close working relationships with organizations such as
the National Association of Counties, National Association of Regional
Councils, National League of Cities, and various professional
associations, including Urban and Regional Information Systems
Association and Geospatial Information and Technology Association.
Increased participation with Geographic Information System (GIS)
software user groups is also planned. Local government outreach has set
a goal of registering 30 to 40 local government Web mapping services to
the GOS portal each quarter in 2007.

Enhance the
Portal

In
the continuing effort to make geospatial data easier to find and use to
support decisionmaking across government, several enhancements to the
GOS portal, www.geodata.gov, are planned for FY 2007. They will be
implemented in three development cycles or releases and will improve
the publishing functions, improve the geographic search for metadata,
update the map viewer, and provide additional capabilities.

6. Advance
Development and Acceptance of Standards

Framework Data
Standard

The International Committee for
Information Technology Standards (INCITS) Technical Committee L1, GIS,
voted to approve the draft revised Framework Data Standard and
adjudication of comments received with the previous INCITS L1 ballot.
The draft standard and supporting documentation will be submitted to
the INCITS Secretariat for further processing to become approved as an
American National Standard (ANS) in 2007.

FGDC
Standards

The following drafts will be
submitted for FGDC public review in FY 2007:

In
2007, a survey of framework implementation will be conducted in
academic institutions to provide content for a white paper on framework
implementation. The Framework Hydrographic Data Standard module will be
completed and posted to an FGDC-sponsored site.

ISO 19115
Geospatial Information: Metadata—North American Profile

The draft North American Profile
(NAP) is scheduled for release to INCITS L1 in 2007 for comment and
ballot. After the draft NAP passes the INCITS L1 ballot, the document
will be submitted to the INCITS Secretariat for further processing to
become approved as an ANS.

An
ISO metadata tool review by volunteers from the FGDC Metadata Working
Group will be finalized during the spring of 2007. Tool review results
will be posted to the FGDC metadata Web site.

7. Advance
Imagery for the Nation Initiative

Three major objectives were
outlined to advance the Imagery for the Nation (IFTN)
initiative.

Complete a
cost-benefit analysis of the IFTN initiative to comprehensively review
and determine the expected return on investment and develop a better
understanding of the associated tangible and intangible benefits and
risks.

Develop and
communicate a detailed analysis of the governance requirements,
partnership opportunities, and contracting options related to State and
Federal interactions on the implementation of IFTN.

Develop
strategies and options for funding a viable IFTN program in the FY 2009
budget.

Appendix A. Profiles

Lynn
Scarlett

Deputy Secretary

U.S. Department of the
Interior

Chair, FGDC Steering
Committee

Lynn Scarlett previously served
as Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget at the
Department of the Interior and previously chaired the Federal Wildland
Fire Leadership Council, an interagency and intergovernmental forum for
implementing the National Fire Plan and 10-Year Implementation Plan.
She earned Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in political
science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Karen S.
Evans

Administrator of Electronic
Government and Information Technology

Office of Management and
Budget

Vice Chair, FGDC Steering
Committee

Karen S. Evans previously served
as Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Department of Energy. She
earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a Master of Business
Administration degree from West Virginia University.

Ivan B.
DeLoatch

Staff Director

Federal Geographic Data
Committee

Ivan B. DeLoatch provides
leadership and management for FGDC operations and activities and serves
as managing partner for the Geospatial Line of Business. He previously
served as chief of the Data Acquisition Branch in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Information.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology and a
minor in chemistry from Bowie State University.

National Spatial Data
Infrastructure (NSDI) recognizes that geospatial applications of many
different disciplines have a recurring need for a few themes of
data—the NSDI framework. Local, regional, State, and Federal government
organizations and private companies perceive the framework as a means
for sharing resources, improving communication, and increasing
efficiency. The framework’s seven data themes are geodetic control,
orthoimagery, elevation, transportation, hydrography, governmental
units, and cadastral information. The framework is one of the key
building blocks of the NSDI and forms the NSDI’s data
backbone.

Data Theme:
Cadastral

Responsible agency:U.S. Department of the
Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

The BLM manages cadastral data by
storing it in the National Integrated Land System (NILS), which is a
joint project between the BLM, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Forest Service, and State, county, and private organizations. The BLM
provides the central database, technical development, distribution,
data integration, leadership, program management, coordination, and
maintenance for NILS. In fiscal year (FY) 2006, new functionality was
added to NILS, including the capability to import and export cadastral
data in various file formats. BLM and USDA Forest Service cadastral
experts evaluated the Measurement Management functionality, resulting
in improvements to the least square adjustment tools for determining
the best coordinate locations and point alias tools for resolving
township boundary differences.

Data Theme:
Cadastral (Offshore)

Responsible agency:U.S. Department of the
Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS)

These maps show the MMS planning
areas for the Offshore Cadastral A-16 data theme. Data for the 2007–12
Oil and Gas Leasing program are available for all planning areas shown
on these maps.

Planning Areas
Map

This map depicts the MMS planning
areas for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) for the continental United
States.

Alaska Planning
Areas Map

This topographic map shows all
MMS planning areas and major rivers in Alaska.

Gulf of Mexico
Map

This map shows the Gulf of Mexico
region. The red areas are MMS planning areas and the lease blocks are
shown inside. The lighter colored blocks indicate active leases. The
black objects are oil-related facilities, such as drilling
rigs.

Data Theme:
Digital Ortho Imagery

Responsible agencies: U.S.
Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Service Agency (FSA)

The USGS is the Federal lead for
orthoimagery; however, a number of Federal agencies—Bureau of Land
Management, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Census Bureau, and
USDA’s FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service—and the National
States Geographic Information Council cooperate in the National Digital
Orthophoto Programs (NDOP) consortium to develop and maintain national
orthoimagery coverage in the public domain. The primary Federal
programs for NDOP are the USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program
(NAIP) and USGS National Orthoimagery Program.

USGS National
Orthoimagery Program

The USGS National Orthoimagery
Program concentrates on the following four areas:

Urban areas
in the Homeland Security Infrastructure Program.

High-resolution States (better
than 1-meter resolution).

Medium-resolution States
(leaf-off)

Medium-resolution States
(leaf-on) in the NAIP.

In FY 2006, the orthoimagery
acquisition program included 57 partnerships with counties and cities
and 24 partnerships with States and regional consortia that were
contracted through the USGS regional offices. Current orthoimagery was
acquired for the Gulf Coast and southeast Atlantic Coast in preparation
for the 2006 hurricane season. A rapid response delivery system was
initiated as a pilot project to house the coastal imagery, but it was
not sufficiently tested because of the mild hurricane season in
2006.

Multiple
Resolution Orthoimagery Acquisition Cycle, October 2006

The USDA
National Agriculture Imagery Program

NAIP combines innovative program
management, technology integration, and contract administration to
acquire 1- and 2-meter resolution natural color imagery during the
growing season. NAIP’s strategy is to annually acquire 1-meter imagery
over roughly 20 percent of the Nation to meet a 5-year base imagery
replacement schedule and collect 2-meter imagery over the remaining
agricultural lands in the continental United States for farm program
administration and compliance activities. The program established an
unprecedented expedited product delivery process, distributing
compressed county mosaics 30 days after the flying season ends and
Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quadrangles within the following
year.

In
FY 2006, with partnership contributions totaling more than $7 million
dollars, FSA acquired 1-meter imagery in 13 States and 2-meter coverage
of agriculture lands overthe rest of the continental
United States. Contingent on funding availability, in FY 2007 NAIP has
scheduled 7 States for 1-meter imagery collection and plans to acquire
2-meter imagery over agricultural lands in 41 States.

National Agriculture Imagery
Program, Cycle 1 (2003–07), is available from
http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/naip_cycle1pdf.pdf.

Data Theme:
Elevation Terrestrial

Responsible agency:U.S. Department of the
Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

The National Elevation Dataset
(NED) contains elevation data, which provide three-dimensional surface
models of the Earth’s surface. USGS makes elevation data available both
for land areas, and, in cooperation with the NOAA, under coastal
waters. USGS identifies digital elevation data based on the resolution
(spacing between the points) of the grid. One arc-second (equivalent to
30-meter) posted elevation data are complete and available for the
entire United States. Current USGS efforts concentrate on providing
finer resolution of elevation data at 1/3- and 1/9-arc-second
(equivalent to 10- and 3-meter, respectively) post spacing. The data
are developed from a variety of sources, including State and local
governments and the private sector.

The elevation theme includes best
available data from Federal, State, local, and private-sector partners.
The USGS plans to continue working closely with FEMA to incorporate
elevation data acquired through that agency’s flood plain map
modernization program and to continue the program of exchanging
elevation data with the USDA Forest Service. The USGS anticipates
incorporating 1/9 arc-second data acquired by other Federal agencies
over urban areas into the NED. The data are organized to provide ease
of use for customers to define the area for data they wish to
access.

NOAA, as the officially
recognized charting agency in the United States, is responsible for
conducting hydrographic surveys. The one data type common to all
hydrographic surveys is water depth. Of additional concern to most
surveys is the nature of the sea floor material (e.g., sand, mud, rock)
due to its implications for anchoring, dredging, structure
construction, pipeline and cable routing, and fisheries habitat. The
primary use of hydrographic surveys is nautical charting. This
application requires the precise location of least depths on dangers to
navigation and depths significant to surface navigation. The precise
location of aids to navigation is also required.

NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey
(NGS) works in partnership with 120 Federal, State, and local agencies
and with academia and private organizations to provide Global
Positioning System data from the Continuously Operating Reference
Stations (CORS) national network.

The CORS network supports
high-accuracy positioning activities and forms the backbone of the
National Spatial Reference System, which provides the foundation for
transportation and communication, mapping and charting, and a multitude
of scientific and engineering applications. In FY 2007, NGS plans to
complete the readjustment of the North American Datum of 1983 and to
revitalize the Federal Geodetic Control Subcommittee. In FY 2006, NGS
published and implemented new CORS guidelines and merged the Mexican
CORS network with the U.S. National CORS network.

CORS National
Network

Data Theme:
Hydrography

Responsible Agency:U.S. Department of the
Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

These data make up the National
Hydrography Dataset, which is a common data model and nationwide
coverage of surface water features at 1:100,000 scale and 1:24,000
scale. These data were produced by a consortium of more than 50
government agencies at the Federal and State levels to provide a
universal solution for hydrography across the Nation. The USGS provides
the central database, technical development, distribution, data
integration, leadership, program management, coordination, and
continuous maintenance through stewardship partnerships with the user
community.

Status of the
High-resolution National Hydrography Dataset, September 25,
2006